64 SIDELINES MARCH 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Equine Therapy
By Dani Moritz
A
vielle Richman was a ray of sunshine. She was bright.
She was happy. The curly-haired California girl, who
had just moved from the West Coast two years prior,
was, as Annette Sullivan explains, “one of those kids
who just lifted your spirits.” She loved horses and looked forward
to her Tuesday afternoon lessons with a pony named Betty. She
adored summer camp and always had her birthday parties at
the farm. In fact, she just had celebrated her sixth birthday at the
barn surrounded by her friends in her first grade class and the
horses who always brought out her biggest smiles.
But on December 14, 2012, everything changed. On that
day, Avielle Richman walked through the doors of Sandy Hook
Elementary for the last time and the world got a little darker.
Avielle was one of 26 people whose lives were taken by
20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza. She was one of six children
connected to Annette Sullivan, who has owned and operated
Zoar Ridge Stables in the Sandy Hook community for the past 20
years.
Annette has always loved working with children and, although
she didn’t yet know exactly how, she knew she needed to
do something to help return the innocence and smiles to the
children of Sandy Hook. The day after the tragic shooting,
Annette and her husband Brian opened the doors of their stable
to the community and invited families to come find some safety,
some comfort, a tiny piece of normalcy.
Like everyone else in Newtown, Connecticut, she was
grieving, but she knew her horses could provide at least a little
hope.
“My friend lost her son. My students lost their brothers. I had
five funerals to go to. I was grieving for Avielle. My own daughter
had sat in that very
classroom in first
grade.”
Embrace Hope
is an equine
assisted therapy
program that was
born from the idea
of horses helping
heal the Sandy
Hook community.
The day after the
tragedy, people
began asking to bring their children to the barn so they could
have but an hour of happiness. For Annette, she felt it was her
responsibility to do something for the community, which was
desperately in need.
“I wanted the children of Sandy Hook to feel like they are
survivors, not victims,” she explained. “Knowing that the farm
gave them a sense of safety, I wanted to find a way to make
Embrace Hope
Equine Therapy Program Helps Heal Sandy
Hook Community
them feel empowered. I think that’s what any equestrian program
can do, being in charge of animals and having a relationship
with a horse gives children self-confidence and a sense of
empowerment. For the children of Sandy Hook, I hope it will
return to them a sense of security in their everyday lives.”
Brian Sullivan contacted his life-long friend Dan Donovan,
who has many years of business experience to bring to the table
to help them establish Embrace Hope. Dan now serves as the
President of the program. Although not an equestrian himself,
Dan has worked alongside Annette, Brian and many volunteers
to create a lasting foundation to help victims of the Sandy Hook
shooting and anyone in
need. Together,
they also partnered
with the Equine
Assisted Growth
and Learning
Association
(EAGALA) to
provide therapy to
children and families
free of charge.
Embrace Hope
offers three types of
therapeutic programs: EAGALA psychotherapy sessions, which
pairs a licensed therapist with an equine specialist to address
individual treatment goals; a farm club, which is essentially a
modified 4-H program that teaches horsemanship for children
affected by trauma; and what Annette refers to as the Young
Trainers program in which participants work with rescue horses
and discuss overcoming horses’ trust issues, which often
{
“While in many people’s memories it fades a bit,
for this community it’s still there and very raw.
This community still needs help.”
- Dan Donovan, President of Embrace Hope
}
Embrace Hope’s logo depicting the simple, but beautiful, joy of a child
and a pony. Note the 26 stars rising to heaven representing the 20
children and 6 adults lost on December 14, 2012.
Logo created by Miggs Burroughs
Continued on page 66
